The 50 Best Oscar Wilde Quotes

Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite authors of all time. Aside from the whole gay thing, he reminds me a lot of my husband. He was an amazing writer, and always had some amazingly witty quote for any occasion. Quotes by Oscar Wilde are still some of the funniest short statements on society and people in general that I have ever read.

Oscar was innovative and quite controversial in his day. He was definitely born in the wrong time as it seemed like he hated all of the silly social rules that were present in the Victorian period. Whenever I want to have a good chuckle about society, I always turn to Oscar.

Today, I thought I would put together a list of the best Oscar Wilde quotes.

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Oscar Wilde Quotes about Reading

“The good end happily, the bad unhappily – that is what fiction means.”

“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.”

“In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody.”

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”

“A poet can survive everything but a misprint.”

“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”

“The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.”

“Its failings notwithstanding, there is much to be said in favor of journalism in that by giving us the opinion of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.”

Oscar Wilde Quotes about Love

“One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.”

“When a man has once loved a woman he will do anything for her except continue to love her.”

“When men love women, they give them but a little of their lives. But women when they love give everything.”

“Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.”

“You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.”

“The very essence of romance is uncertainty.”

“Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.”

“Deceiving others; that is what the world calls a romance.”

“Who, being loved, is poor?”

“I think to elope is cowardly. It’s running away from danger.”

Oscar Wilde Quotes about Fashion

“A really well made buttonhole is the only link between art and nature.”

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”

“If one is to behave badly, it is better to be bad in a becoming dress.”

“The beauty of a dress depends entirely and absolutely on the loveliness it shields.”

“A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.”

“Fashion is ephemeral. Art is eternal.”

“And, after all, what is a fashion? From the artistic point of view, it is usually a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”

“The future belongs to the dandy. It is the exquisites who are going to rule.”

“Looking good and dressing well is a necessity. Having a purpose in life is not.”

Oscar Wilde Quotes about Life

“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”

“Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us; and true progress is to know more, and be more, and to do more.”

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

“I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do – the day after.”

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”

“The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.”

“When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.”

“One should never take sides in anything. Taking sides is the beginning of sincerity, and earnestness follows shortly afterwards, and the human being becomes a bore.”

“Nothing is so aggravating as calmness.”

Oscar Wilde Quotes about Society

“Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals.”

“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.”

“A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.”

“It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about, nowadays, saying things against one behind one’s back that are absolutely and entirely true.”

“The public has always, and in every age, been badly brought up.”

“One can survive everything nowadays, except death, and live down anything except a good reputation.”

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

“Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everybody in good society holds exactly the same opinions.”

“Never speak disrespectfully of Society. Only people who can’t get into it do that.”

“Society, civilized society at least, is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating. It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef.”

What is your favorite Oscar Wilde quote?

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I'm Brenda. I'm a writer and a reader. Daily Mayo is all about having fun while reading, without rules! If you love books as much as I do, join the DM Book Lover's Club to keep up with the latest in the book world and get the DM Book Club Reading List.Come get to know me and let's talk books!

I'm Brenda. I'm a writer and a reader. Daily Mayo is all about having fun while reading, without rules! If you love books as much as I do, join the DM Book Lover's Club to keep up with the latest in the book world and get the DM Book Club Reading List.Come get to know me and let's talk books!